Momentos
by MattSpy05
Summary: Some drabbles, bits and pieces, and whatever else I can think of both Cannon and AU about Arrow. Rated T for now but rating subject to change.
1. Go for the Gold

**So I didn't know what I was going to do after finishing Hunting Party, but after the MASSIVE response after the completion of that piece you all gave me a little pick me up to keep writing. Although I want to do something a little easier than Hunting Party where I was restricted to the music, so I thought I would just make a spot where I can put some random stuff in it. I know there are a lot of drabble pieces in the Arrow fandom, all of them are excellent and I just hope that I be half as good as the others are.**

_So where to start? I really want to do some stuff that I haven't read a lot. In my opinion one of the most pivotal episodes so far has been The Dodger episode. That totally changed the dynamic of the show from Felicity being his go to I.T. girl that shows up every episode to being his partner, AND the turning point of that episode is the gold dress, it was the first time that the series showed off the idea that not only could Felicity play the smart girl but she could be a bombshell as well. _

_So it got me thinking, what got Felicity to choose THAT dress? Well here's what I think happened._

_As customary I don't own the characters of Arrow because I'm just not that cool._

_**Go for the Gold**_

Felicity knows that it has only been eight hours, fifty-six minutes, and forty-six seconds since she woke up this morning, however it feels as if it's been eighteen hours instead. How in the hell did she get herself in to this situation? She was joining Oliver Queen, THEE OLIVER QUEEN at a charity auction. She knows that the only reason she is going is to track when The Dodger makes a move on the broach that somehow Oliver was able to overnight, if pieces of jewelry worth close to if more than a million dollars can be overnighted, how does that work anyway?

Anyway, she knows that she is way out of her league here, but for a certain amount of time people are going to see her with Oliver Queen, she can't simply dress in her nerdtire, which is what she calls her blouse and knee length skirt combination, everyone will know that she just a lonely I.T. girl who lives by herself in a small apartment close to the Glades. She could go with a neutral color, like he black dress, then she immediately erases that thought out of her mind because pulling out an LBD while standing next to Oliver Queen might make her look she's desperate, which is not totally false but she doesn't have to announce it to the world.

"Blue what about blue?" She flips to her closet and only finds a attire that looks more like business attire, and then she has that zipper dress which is totally sending the wrong message. "Oh God, I got an hour and a half and I can't even do my makeup yet until I know what I'm going to wear!" Then she sees the phone, "No, I can't, I won't, I will not, I am not," she snorts, "Damn it!" She snatches the phone and dials a Las Vegas phone number, "Please don't pick up, please don't pick up, please don't pick up."

"You've reached Donna Smoak, I'm not able to come to the phone…"

"Oh thank God!" Felicity exhales.

She walks back into her closet and starts going through her dress bags, red, no to sultry, "I really like red though, no I'll look like a call girl. She flips through and finds a fuchsia dress, it's vibrant like her personality that could work, but it seemed to fun, "Jesus it's a charity auction not a date!" Then the image of her on a date with Oliver Queen, candlelight dinner small talk, her inviting her into her apartment, Felicity shakes the image out of her head, "Your just his I.T. girl, he's just bringing you because…why is he bringing me? Oh yeah because I can track down a jewelry thief, if he could get one of his sex vixens to do it than I wouldn't be here flinging dresses aroun…"

Then she sees it, she forgot it was their she bought it in Vegas after a night of counting cards, her adrenaline had been flowing through her so much, the fact that she hadn't been eighty-sixed out of this particular place. She decided to go to the boutiques at the Bellagio and spend her earnings immediately so that they couldn't take it away from her. It was gold, but not that bright cocktail waitress gold, it was more of an antique gold, in the dim lights in the back of her closet the dress almost looked black, but out in the light it shimmered a uniqueness that was worthy of whatever multi-thousand dollar tuxedo Oliver would be wearing, oh God Oliver Queen is going to be wearing a tuxedo and looking for her, "No, it's too much, it's…it's…it."

She carefully pulls the dress bag out of the closet and removes the dress out of the bag, the dress barely reaches her mid-thigh, a small cut out on the left side of the dress reveals even more leg, she stares at it one last time, "I am going to a charity auction with Oliver Queen, this is a once in a lifetime moment, this maybe the only time I can wear it, it's a once in a lifetime dress, you can do this Felicity."

She looked at the clock and she clearly knows that she's going to be late to the auction, she holds up the dress and just her luck the dress matches her hair color she chose this time. She decides to leave her hair down and curl the bottom of it. She also decides that in this once in a lifetime moment she is not under any circumstance wearing glasses to this event. The only purse that she has to match is a mahogany colored one but the chain matches so she'll go with it, she finds the shoes she bought to match them while on her shopping slashing fencing spree.

She decides not to drive because she does not want to get out of that car at the auction revealing herself after her dress hikes up while changing gears in her mini. She calls the taxi and of course they take their sweet time getting there. By the time she arrives she's forty-five minutes late. She's never late, "Well at least I get to make an entrance. As she walks inside she notices a few looks coming from some men and that gives her a little confidence as she looks for Oliver, she's pulls her phone out of her purse and decides to text Digg to see where they are at until she spots him, and all her confidence leaves her because he of course, is fucking gorgeous. He's grown out his stubble enough that it's turned into a manly "I survived five years on an Island alone" beard, his tux is perfect, long black tie to go with the perfectly pressed white dress shirt. The he looks up, and in that moment he looks at her like she's the only woman in the world. She looks around trying to see if anyone is around her, and when she notices that she's standing in a space only occupied by her. _Oh my God, he…Oliver Queen is smiling at me, looking at me, admiring me, _in that moment time stands still she's not here at a charity auction helping Oliver Queen, The Hood, The Vigilante, catch a jewel thief, no she's at a charity auction and Oliver Queen is walking to her with a smile on his face, and the only thing she can think of is smiling back, because her insides want her to scream and shot and do her first pump but that would cause a scene, and right now the only scene she wants to cause is that smile on Oliver Queen's face.

_If you guys have any request for me AU or Cannon doesn't matter, I'm up for about anything, hope you enjoy, please leave a review if you can._


	2. Silent Reading

_**First of all thank you all for the favorites and follows that were received after "Go for the Gold." The idea behind Mementos is that there will be a series of focuses that each piece will about, those focuses will then lead to an AU moment that uses those mementos to tell the story. So in essence, we will return to Felicity's Gold dress at a later date. **_

_**I also want to avoid the usual drabble issue is that all the stories become focused on one thing, I want to give a lot of perspectives in this peace, so this piece is about Oliver, but it's done through Diggle, I hope you enjoy.**_

**I do not own these characters, no one does, but I especially don't.**

**Silent Reading**

The only reason John Diggle accepted the assignment of being Oliver Queen's body guard was for overly ridiculous pay. Moira Queen just got her son back after five years and almost a day later that was an attempt on his life, money had no meaning to her as long as her son remained safe. Like the good soldier he was he did his research, the amount of times he was arrested, at one time those arrests usually occur, what alcoholic beverage caused the most incidents (tequila by the way).

He prepared himself for the job of driving around and chauffeuring the prick, keeping him away from paparazzi, and making sure he got home (even if it was the next day after an overnight stay at someone's apartment), and then collecting his paycheck. What he didn't prepare for is that all that research was useless. Within hours, the most notable undead celebrity in Starling City vanished under his watch, and he had to run back with his tail between his legs. However, John Diggle is an observant man and he eventually knew where he would be even if he didn't let OIiver know it, he was either stomping around in his father's old iron factory, or he was stalking Laurel. Once he figured out those locations honing in on Oliver became easy even as multiple people want him dead. Then he saw him throw a butter knife across a ten foot space to knock a combat knife out of the Queen of the Triad's very capable hands. When Oliver finally revealed to him that he was indeed the hood, he had the same reaction everyone else has had when they find out, _it explained a lot about him._

The truth was that even though Oliver was a secret vigilante, once one gets to know Oliver Queen you realize pretty quickly that he's on open book. When came back from Queen Consolidated after getting the information on Deadshot's whereabouts from the laptop, John could help but notice that Oliver was smiling. Then after he stared mentioning Felicity whenever he could tell that it wouldn't be long until Felicity Smoak would be joining them in the foundry. John found it pretty amusing when Felicity started claiming to him that she connected with Oliver and could sense his feelings, John just smiled and tried to look surprised, the truth was it didn't take a genius to know how Oliver was feeling.

You could tell by his workouts, if he was using the punching bag, he was mad. Pushups or sit ups, he was thinking, if he was using the salmon ladder or hanging by something he was feeling good. You could tell by his other daily actions, if he was sharpening his arrows he was meditating, if he was meditating he was having visions about his past. If he was sitting silently in the light he wanted to talk about something, if he was sitting in the dark then you needed to stay the fuck away from him.

You could tell by his eating habits, the more concerned he was the less he ate, after missions were completed he would always pig out. You could tell by how he laid on the med table, if he tried to sit up he was feeling pretty good, if he stayed flat something was bothering him. You could tell by his touches, on the shoulder meant he cared. In the chest meant he didn't, hugs although rare meant he was a little overwhelmed.

Reading Oliver wasn't simply on his actions, it was also in his eyes. When Oliver looks at him he looks at him like an older brother, you can tell by his eyes that he trusts what John says, even if he doesn't agree with it. He looks at Roy like a younger brother, he cares but doesn't want to show it, so he usually looks over the top of him. When he looks at Laurel there's guilt and pain, from all the times he feels that he failed her. His favorite expressions he likes to observe is when Oliver is talking to Felicity, because with her there's something you wouldn't expect from someone with the personality of Felicity Smoak, there's fear and nervousness, almost like he doesn't always know what to do with her. Diggle usually just smiles in the background because he the fact that the Hood is scared of someone like Felicity Smoak is highly enjoyable.

Unfortunately where he sees Oliver in his comfort level is when he has the hood on, he stands taller, he glares, and his face is taut and strong. The eyes he shows when staring down an enemy is truly frightening. John knows that one day Oliver will have to give up the hood, his body just won't be able to withstand the pain and anguish. He just hopes that one day Oliver's book will become audible as well.


	3. Coffee

**So yeah, here we go again, just to let you all know there is no actual set dates that I will post material to this peace. Some weeks all put up three or four, sometimes I won't post any for a whole week, it all just depends what I have on my mind for the time. I also have a lot of other writing projects going, I have a short story series and a novel that I'm working on for so if I get really into those then there will be less post to this piece. However right now I'm taking a week off the novel and I'm still figuring out how to do the next short story, so while those things are light, I'm going to keep posting to this piece.**

**So this piece came to mind because there is a running joke going on at work, my best friend at work likes to pretend his this big manly guy but then he walks in every day with an iced skinny white chocolate mocha latte. My rule about coffee is if it takes more than four words to give an order than you need your man card temporarily revoked.**

**Coffee**

One of the few perks of living on an island that used to be a Chinese prison is that there was plenty of tea leaves and coffee beans growing in the mountains in various regions of Lian Yu. Both were still delicacies, tea leaves had to be dried out, which was quite difficult considering that Lian Yu seemed to rain every other day. Coffee also had to be picked and then roasted, and if there were enemies on the island (which was quite a lot) roasting coffee beans usually didn't help with hiding your position. On the island Shado was responsible for producing the coffee and tea, Oliver attempted to help but that was mostly for the possibility of getting some alone time in the cave that she used to dry the leaves and beans. Shado would make her tea in a clay pot, heating the clay a few inches above the fire. She would use a metal pot to make coffee. Oliver would observe how meticulous Shado was about making the beverages. To this day he still makes his coffee in a sauce pan, and dropping in the grinded beans in a wrapped cheesecloth, it's a long and patient process but to him it's more than coffee, it's his way of paying homage to the woman that taught him more than just surviving the island she taught him how to live. He still believes that every day is a fight for survival, but in these moments while he waits in his kitchen for his coffee to finish he takes a few minutes to live his life, to try to gain a small sense of normalcy to his strange existence.

John Diggle has very few weaknesses, he can and has broken bones in half with his arms, and he can hit a target with a gun from hundreds of yards away without breaking a sweat. However one item in particular can stop him in his tracks…sugar. He loves the stuff, and he likes the fact that he has a soft side underneath his tough exterior. Every morning he makes sure that there's at least three tablespoons of sugar with his coffee every morning, the really good shit, Diggle has noticed, is the places that use liquid sugar, that stuff simply encompasses all of the coffee, the crystalized stuff tends to sink to the bottom after a while. Since Diggle refuses to drink his coffee while he's driving since he doesn't want to be distracted while driving, and he doesn't want to risk the chance that his coffee will spill all over his suit. Diggle knows that he won't have to swish his coffee around to mix the sugar back up if they use liquid sugar. Now cream? Only amateurs use cream.

If there caffeineaholics anonymous sessions in Starling City, Felicity Smoak would run the chapter. During her days at M.I.T. , she had her own expresso maker, which was used at least five times a day. That doesn't take into the effect the double espresso or latte she would pick up before and after her classes. So yeah, sleep was usually pretty elusive for her. It was good training though, her eighteen to twenty hour days between her day job and her night job doesn't normally bother like it should, she used to go three days without sleeping. Her days of just espresso are gone, they are mostly lattes now she has to get at least a little sleep now, she won't be able to live with herself if one of her boys get killed because she was too tired from lack of sleep. Some nights she even has been able to downgrade herself to coffee, especially if Oliver makes it, for one it serves him right for actually thinking that she would make coffee for him on a regular basis and two whatever he does with his coffee is magical.

Roy never drank coffee before he joined Team Arrow, he never liked the taste of it, if he needed some energy and focus he would grab (most likely steal) a Red Bull and chug it in less than ten seconds. Ever since his days of being off the Mirakuru, he decided that having instant and spontaneous energy wasn't as highly rated as he thought, instead the smell of the roasted beans and how the steam clears his nostrils become an almost meditative trance to him, however the bitterness of the liquid bothers him, Felicity told him that adding cream takes the bitterness away, so he usually mixes his coffee with a 50/50 distribution of milk and coffee, he has been told that that is basically cappuccino, before Diggle began to make fun of his concoction, Felicity clarified and defended Roy's choice of beverage saying that cappuccino is steamed milk, his is more of a café con leche, if that makes it any better.

Laurel has moods, she knows this, she wishes that she didn't but people have told her that it's her charm. When she's in a good mood, she'll drink a mocha or caramel latte, when she's stressed she goes for a double espresso, when she's indecisive or in a dilemma which is different than being stressed (she's had to explain this to Oliver many times) she has coffee with extra cream and sugar, when she's upset she goes for a cappuccino with and extra rock sugar stick, she she's mad her coffee is black, and when she's pissed…Chai Latte.

It's quite an understatement to say that Thea is a fashionable person, in this case her coffee selections are more about what's popular, if the celebraties are drinking green tea, than she has it with honey, if it's the chai, then she has it with vanilla, if it's a latte, white chocolate, if it's coffee then she likes hers with a touch of cinnamon, because one should always now that Thea always has spice and everything nice.

Sara hates coffee, it's bitter, tea however is not only more flavorful, it's also medicinal, and when living every day to survive medicinal recipes always seem to be a better idea than some burnt up beans mixed with water.

Ray Palmer doesn't enjoy coffee, it's just a means to keep his brain operating, so espresso is the only way he goes, his assistants should always know when he needs a refuel, he drinks the espressos slightly at room temperature so he can digest them like he was taking shots of vodka. Ray Palmer doesn't have time to savor the moment; he's too busy brainstorming ideas and making money to stop, stopping is nothing more than failing. Everything must have a purpose or else they would simply be wasting his time.

Oliver pours the hot liquid into the same cup that he washed out the night before, as he always does he brings his nose down to the dark liquid and savors the aroma of his patience. He then looks into the heavens and smiles up at Shado, thanking him for showing him how to enjoy the small times in life where nothing is happening.


	4. Kisses

**OOF, pretty tough night for the Olicity shippers, but if you can think past the current soap opera occurring they wouldn't show that scene if they didn't have a plan to resolve the current issue between Felicity and Oliver. I actually appreciate that they haven't turned Felicity into a wet blanket, "I will always wait for you" girlfriend. Felicity is too strong a character and she has all the rite to live her life if Oliver continues to wallow in himself. What is absolutely ridiculous about this situation is that is the people that are suggesting that Felicity is be promiscuous for exploring her options with Barry and Ray. Um, Oliver has slept with how many women, and lest we all forget he slept with Isabelle right as Felicity came to visit him at his room? That is still a way more painful moment than this. **

**BUT…**

**It gave me an idea for a memento….**

**As always no ownage….**

**Kisses**

The first time Oliver kissed Laurel, he knew this was different than casual, that this person was stronger than those women, Laurel wanted _control _of the moment, and he should have known then that Laurel always wanted control, that control was the reason she scared him off in the first place, now he would see it as an independence a femininity, but at the time he wasn't in to serving anyone but himself. When they kissed again upon his return the control was no longer there it was instead a desperation as if Laurel was searching for something that wouldn't let him leave, but really what he wanted was the same Laurel he left in the first place.

The first time with Sarah was fun, it was risky, he was undermining his fiancé, it was the first time the danger of cheating became a thrill, such a thrill that he continued their escapade on the Queen's Gambit. When they kissed again in the foundry it was nothing more than relief and release, the adventure the thrill that Sarah brought him was gone.

The first time Laurel kissed Tommy, she was drunk, really drunk, and there was probably some vindictive subconscious that she could get back at Oliver for the pain he and her sister caused her by going after his best friend. When Oliver returns and Tommy pursues her, then next time they kiss she kisses as Laurel she kisses using all her strength wanting to show Tommy that she can love again. She fails him however when she gives in to her want of Oliver, and that thought that she was never good enough for Oliver and that she betrayed that man that actually appreciated her will be cloud on her for the rest of her life.

When Oliver finally brought himself to kiss Shado, he thought it was to give into their obvious need for affection, it became an escape, for the moments they made love, it their life on Lian Yu disappeared and it was just them. Unfortunately her death brought about the death of Ollie, initially his motivation for his crusade is that if he were to die he would return to his special place with Shado, but now, he can't recollect what was so special about it in the first place.

The first time Felicity Smoak kissed Cooper Sheldon, she felt someone finally appreciated her. Her father left her, her mother thought of her as more a rebellious freak than anything. Cooper provided her with the attention and security that no one else had ever given her, his sacrifice to spare her time in prison and the knowledge of his suicide took away all her feelings for love. She changed her life because of him she created herself to live in the light for once, hoping that someone else would notice, unfortunately that person that still wants to remain in the darkness.

The first time Thea kissed Roy, she felt an admiration for him, don't get things wrong, he's got a jawline that could cut through steel. The thought that a man that stole her purse and lived in the Glades could actually steal the heart of Thea Queen even amazed her. Roy's kiss was raw, emotional, filled with all sorts of undertones and desperation, a feeling that Thea could never escape.

The first time Felicity kissed Barry on the train, she knew it had finality to it. They both admitted that they had feelings for each other, but they loved other people, she cried the rest of the train ride home. She finally found someone who wanted to live in the light with her, someone who was interested in everything she was interested in, and he loved someone else, who was nothing like her. It was the first time in her life that she did believe what her mother told her about men

The night Felicity kissed, or more like it Oliver kissed her in the hospital, she felt for that one moment what love was like, but at the same time the back of her head, her rational side that doesn't shut up, told her that this was another torturous end, that she was being dumped for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Again love was nothing more than disappointment.

The first time Oliver kissed Felicity it was the most desperate form of love her ever attempted, he couldn't lose her forever, but she wanted it, she wanted him to say that he will never love her, to break her heart all at once so she can build her life back up without him, in that moment he had to prove to her that he wanted her in her life forever, he just didn't know how he could do it, he couldn't even enjoy the kiss because the whole time he wondered if it would be the last time he would ever kiss someone who he shared feelings for, and he was pushing her away.

The first time Felicity kissed Ray, she was admittedly in a trance. She had just heard Oliver repeat that he could never be with her, that he would rather be alone. She needed love, she couldn't be alone anymore, and Ray Palmer had given her a life beyond Oliver Queen. This was her chance to find love and escape her demons, and then he broke it off and used the word "Platonic" her word she used with Oliver, again he ran away, leaving her alone, in the darkness of the night contemplating what once again is wrong with her life, and why all good things can never stay.

**Once again huge thanks to everyone for the immediate support, till next time!**


	5. Pieces

**Some of you have probably thought, "Wow he is an idiot, he misspelled **_**memento **_**in the title. No, it's called **_**momentos **_**as a combination word, it's a combination of memento and momentum. The idea to this piece is that I will pick out little things from each season that symbolizes an important memory. Then I will tell a story set in the near future using those items we talked about hence the "momentum" part.**

**So we've got enough mementos to create the first momentum piece. This story is based loosely off the aftermath of episode 3.07. **

**I don't own any of these characters I'm about to use…unfortunately.**

**Pieces**

She blames her mother, she's cursed, how the hell can one person meet two beautiful billionaires (well one of them is at this point) and fuck up both of those situations. In a couple of hours she had to hear Oliver over the comm talk about wanting to be alone. She then saw that as her moment, a moment to finally break away from him to fall into Palmer's embrace and when the moment was right, when their lips locked he pulled away, wanting to keep their relationship "platonic" she now _HATES _that fucking word. Then when she thinks nothing could get worse her phone call with Diggle happens.

Already depressed about her predicament with Palmer, she tried to do what she always did when things went sour, she decided to work her brain into mush. She went to the foundry to work her brain into submission much in the same way Oliver uses a dummy, Felicity wanted to bury herself in code, she thought she could look into some more leads about Sarah's murder that would the type of time consuming, mind numbing work she needed. Then she saw it, the Foundry it was in shambles.

She quickly scurried down the stairs to observe the damage, she could immediately tell that this wasn't an attack or robbery all the vital equipment was untouched, however all the non-vital equipment was destroyed, when she saw the dummy she immediately knew who the culprit was. She called Diggle on her phone.

"Hey Felicity is something wrong? It's close to midnight."

"Uh, Oliver wrecked the Foundry, stuff is broken all over the place, I know it was him by how the dummies are broken."

"Well what did you two say?" Diggle responded.

"What did you mean what did we say?"

"Didn't you two try to hash out your issues last night? Oliver texted me last night saying that he was going to visit your office after dinner so that you guys could finally get passed your issues."

Felicity froze, a small tear began to form in her right eye, "Approximately what time did he text you?"

"About nine, why?"

_Shit, fuck, fucking shit, holy shit fucking shit!_ "Sorry Diggle never saw him, must have got occupied with something else, sorry for calling got to go!" Felicity ended the phone call, tears escaped from her eyes, when suddenly she unleashed a primordial scream. She walked back up the stairs, she contemplated going away, somewhere where she couldn't be found, she thought about starting a new life. She knew she couldn't though, she couldn't just abandon everything she built for herself, so instead she slowly drove home and spent the rest of the night wallowing and eventually she cried herself to sleep.

The next morning she hears a knock at the door, "No, everyone leave me alone!" Felicity screams at the door, but whoever is at the door will not give up, she knows it's not Oliver, he's probably finding a dark alley and brooding to his heart's content. Who she really fears is Diggle, he probably would have put two and two together by now. She opens the door and she is once again wrong.

"Morning! I brought coffee, least I could do for taking advantage of you last night." Ray Palmer hands her a cup of coffee and enters her apartment without permission, "So, I came over to apologize and make it up to you, I totally lead you on, and it's only fair that I take you on an actual dinner date. Perhaps if things go well I'll take the platonic tag off, since I'm the one that's obviously keeping it on in the first place. Wait a minute you don't look well is everything alright?"

Felicity smiles, "I'm fine," she knows now that she has to make the best out of the situation, her chances with Oliver are done, if he indeed witnessed her kissing Palmer, he will be done with her, she'll doubt that he'll even let her in the Foundry, at least for a little while. He'll need his time to deal with it to internalize it, and then he'll be ready for her with his mask, the mask used for those he has compartmentalized, like how he talks to Laurel. _Oh my God, I've become Laurel! _She tries to shake the thought out of her head, she looks for the positives in the situation, she convinces herself that perhaps it's a silver lining instead of having to choose between the two, fate did it for her. It's the coward's way out, but at this point she'll take it.

"I'm fine, a date is nice, I was thinking, perhaps we can spend the night in?" She then listens to herself, "Not in like, that way, no, more like order some takeout watch a movie, work's been crazy lately, I'm pretty tired."

Palmer laughs, "Boring! You're just thinking that way because the latte hasn't hit you yet, drink up before it gets cold, I was thinking a little dinner and dancing, Table Salt and then maybe even Verdant? Okay just joking, but dancing would be nice, right?."

Felicity freezes, the thought of going to Verdant with Palmer while Diggle and Oliver sit in the basement and Roy working at the bar terrifies her so much it makes her sick. She takes a sip of the latte to calm herself, it's nice but right now she doesn't need a pick me up, she needs something relaxing, at that moment this would have usually been the time that she would practically beg Oliver to make his stovetop coffee. She then conjures an image of Oliver's face when he must of saw her in Palmer's arms and their lips locked. Oliver may not verbally express his emotions, but she can always read them on his face and the look of absolute heartbreak he must have had must have been what she felt like when she saw Isabelle Rochev come out of Oliver's room. She then toughens, _he did this to me once and I came back to him, now he gets to suffer a little, at least I didn't sleep with Palmer, he will forgive me and then we'll joke about it like our running joke is that the word Russia is banned in front of me, he'll say the word Ray is now banned and we'll all laugh that's how it will all end, he can't hate me forever? Can he?_

"So what do you think?" Palmer asks.

Felicity jolts back to reality, "Excuse me?"

"Um, do we have to go to the clubs, like I said I'm a little tired."

"So you're saying Table Salt is a good idea at least?"

"Sure, but uh, what time are we going, I just need to know what time I need to get ready."

She looks back up at Palmer who suddenly has gone into her bedroom, she follows him and sees that he is scanning through her closet, "I am so fascinated by your wardrobe Ms. Smoak, I want to see you tonight in an absolute bombshell outfit."

Felicity frumps, "Hopefully you don't think that I'm only a bombshell because of the outfits I wear?"

Palmer laughs, "No, no, you looked absolutely stunningly spectacular in that dress last night, but I want tonight to be a little more fun, I want to see the perfect side of Felicity Smoak." He then stops, "Oh my, Felicity, I would literally pay another billion dollars to see you in this tonight." Felicity smiles the thoughts of violation from this man invading her apartment and going through her closet start to creep her out less, his excitement and his absolute dedication to her, she smiles wondering what Ray wants to see her in, wants to admire her in, then he shows it to her.

It's the gold dress, the one from the charity auction, her first outing with Oliver. Suddenly all the memories come crashing back to her, the nervousness, the panic, and then the look, Oliver's look, the look of pure astonishment and wonder on his face. That dress symbolizes the moment that her heart changed from awe to totally fallen for, she remembers the fear of having the Dodger lock the bomb collar on her, and then Oliver saving her. Oliver saving her, how many times has he saved her, her hero, _her Oliver_, and it all started with that gold dress.

Tears, more tears, tears she thought she didn't have rush out of her ducks and spill down her face, this Ray Palmer has stolen Oliver's company and heritage, he stole her, made Oliver witness him kissing her, he isn't going to steal this from him, she realizes that this isn't an easy way out, it's worse, she's hurt the man she swore to protect, she broke him, she had spent two years trying to put him back together, to give him confidence in himself, to show him that he was more than just a man in a hood, and she destroyed all of it in seconds. Then she realizes what Diggle was saying, he was coming to her office, to talk about their situation, if she hadn't needed a rebound after listening to Oliver on the comm.

"Hello? Are you okay Felicity?" Ray questions.

She looks up at him streaks of tears all over her face, Ray smiles, "Okay I'm sorry about the dress, hey it's a little much for Table Salt anyway. Perhaps we should go with black…"

_A little much_, the same words that she thought when she internally battled about the dress, the gold dress that Ray Palmer just called, "A little much," was the dress that she took a risk on, just like Oliver planned on doing something he's not comfortable with, he was going to share his feelings to her, perhaps it could have been Oliver in her bedroom right now if she hadn't been so needy and stupid.

"Get out," Felicity murmurs.

Palmer freezes, "Excuse me?"

"I am not going out tonight, and I don't appreciate you barging into my apartment and going through my closet like you own the place, you may own a lot, but you don't own me, I may work for you and you may pay me for my work, but you do not get to control me. I need some time to myself, and you do not have the right to know why, so no Mr. Palmer I do not want to go to Table Salt tonight, I want to stay in and that's what I'm going to do."

Palmer pauses, "I apologize Ms. Smoak," he places the gold and black dresses back in the closet, "Perhaps my demeanor has been a little intrusive, why don't you take a few days off at work and we'll talk about this another time." Palmer hurries out of her bedroom out of her apartment and shuts the door behind him. Felicity sits on her bed staring at the gold dress with Ray's latte still in her cold hands, she then turns towards her bathroom and chucks the full latte into the bathroom, the latte slams against her medicine cabinet and the brown liquid splatters in different directions. She falls back onto her bed, she begins to whimper, then sob, and then she's flat out wailing, finally her crying leads to coughing and her stomach turns over, she begins to dry heave, she begins to feel light headed she starts to conjur an image of crumpled Oliver Queen sitting in a dilapidated Foundry searching for air after destroying everything he could find wondering how he is going to conceal the pain this time, and this time his pain isn't a stab or bullet wound, it's not even the guilt of seeing your best friend die, it's a broken heart caused by the person who he thought would never do anything to hurt him. She collapses to the floor thinking that she caused the Arrow to win, she helped the Arrow, the Hood, to kill Oliver Queen, she's his Judas, she betrayed the man she loves and there's no turning back, she just confined herself to a world of emptiness and of quiet dreams shattered to pieces.

**So wow, that was tough, I took a little liberty with letting Felicity find out. If you liked this story keep a heads up for my new short story that will be on my amazon author's page (check my profile) shortly. I will be free for the weekend and I think up until Tuesday.**

**P.S. Thanks for all the support, the follows, the favorites, I love all of it thanks to everyone. Until next time!**


	6. Personas

_**I hope that you all have liked the first five chapters so far. If I were to critique myself I thought in the last story that I have made Felicity overreact just a little, but in my defense as well Ray pulled out the gold dress and called it "a bit much" now this is an example of how the two parts work. We know from the first chapter the gold dress was the memento symbolizing the start of their romantic interest in each other. That moment then comes to show itself in the momentum piece of Ray barging into her apartment and trying to run her life. **_

_**Now Ray is a nice guy, and perhaps in a later chapter he will have a chance to redeem himself or perhaps not? We'll see if Season 3 gives us any mementos to give Ray his second chance. For now we move on with a new memento, let me know what you think.**_

**I do not own the characters of Arrow, but I do own the characters of This Corporation of Ours which is free until tomorrow! (cheap plug #1) go to /authors/matthewspychala to check it out (cheap plug #2)**

**Personas**

It was the first time in five years that I had been guilt tripped by my mother. This used to happen on a regular basis, which thinking back now, they really weren't guilt trips, it was more like parental advice, accept if your parents were billionaires who were never around to do actual parenting. At the time I blamed my parents for the way I turned out, my so-called playboy persona was nothing more than an extreme attempts to grab my parents attention, but instead of saying, "That's it Oliver, you're grounded" or "I'm pulling your trust fund until you behave enough to earn it back", I got little quips from my mother telling me that I should care more about her concerns about me, like she didn't care if I acted like an ass, as long as I was acting like an ass on _her terms._

This time around she was upset because I wasn't around enough, she had brought over Carter Bowen, the perfect son, to brunch, and while he was in the middle of ranting about all his accomplishments and how people were trying to make him a television start that sounded like a wizard, I had to go and stop a bank robbery. Then the night of Tommy's grand attempt at winning Laurel's heart by holding a charity event for CNRI, Sam Reston decided to not take my offer of a new job and a clean life and instead tried to rob another bank. So after her lecture about my lack of social skills since my return I told her I had to leave and she hit me with this bomb, _I'm starting to think that you would have been better off staying on that island._ That guilt bomb was the highest class of guilt bombs, the "Moira Queen has been drinking" guilt bomb. Before the island, _Ollie_ would have stormed off into a night club rounded up one or two, perhaps even three women and used them to bang the guilt into submission, then of course I would have made sure that the paparazzi would have seen me bringing these women into the penthouse suite of the hotel, causing my mother to gasp in the morning and give me another stern lecture on how I do nothing but retaliate against her. _Oliver _doesn't have time for that, Oliver needed to stop a bank robbery. As usual nothing goes as entirely planned, I was able to stop the bank robbery but not without Sam Reston taking a shotgun to the chest when the guard woke up from his chloroform nap.

Diggle tried to soothe my torment, he told me I did the right thing, and then he told me one very important thing, "So perhaps there is more than one way to save this city." I simply nodded and mumbled a maybe, but I knew where he was getting at, that the Arrow is only a vigilante, he can scare people into the right thing but Oliver Queen he can actually _do_ the right thing. First must come The List, The Hood must take care of those that only fail my city. Then the second plan of attack is for the Queen family to right its wrongs, the Queens abundant resources could bring the city back to life much more effectively than The Hood can. In order for this to work I must maintain a balance, during times where The Hood is inactive, I must be a Queen, I must show that I care about more than myself, and the first person on that list is indeed Moira Queen.

I change back into my tux and have Diggle drive me back to the mansion, I find my mother by the foyer fire place fixing herself her usual three fingers of scotch and ice.

"Nightcap?" I say in a sorrowful tone, as if I'm trying to apologize to her without actually saying the words.

"Well I thought it would help me I don't sleep well alone." She replies as she takes a sip barely giving the ice enough time to chill the whiskey, God she's good with the guilt trips. She gulps, lets the liquid settle and turns to me, "I'm sorry about what I said tonight." She says to me, almost attempting to puncture my soul with her sorrowful "feel bad for me" look, she doesn't know that looks actually don't kill, arrows, stone, bullets, and blades do, I can survive looks.

However I must act the part, I shake my head and again try my best to make her think I feel bad about the whole situation, "No," a sigh, "You were being honest."

She didn't like that answer, and her face turns into a frown, I expect her to say "No I was mad," but instead she says, "No, not entirely," that statement makes me feel good because for once in my life my mother is treating me like an equal.

She rambles slightly about missing Walter, and then she comes right back on the attack, "You know I used to know everything you were thinking, but now I can't it's like you're always somewhere else, I guess I just miss my son." Second alcohol infused guilt atomic bomb of the night, that one however did phase me slightly, here I was living under her house using the trust fun in the Queen's name and the entire time I've returned I have been focused on The Hood and The List, as it should be, but for those that don't know about those things, which is everyone but Diggle, I'm just a quieter, stealthier, nomadic, lonelier version of myself, so I need to lighten up, if I want to get the support of the Queen's after The List is through I need my family's support so I smile and reply back.

"I miss you too." The response makes her smile, "And I wish that," I was about to finish that sentence, but I couldn't continue the lie because I really don't care if she knows about what happened on the island or not but then I come up with an idea, to solve both of our problems, "Are you hungry?"

The truth was I was starving, so bringing my mother to Big Belly Burger with me for some mother/son bonding time could solve both my problems: my stomach and my mother's incessant guilt trips towards me. She gets her driver to take us to the Glades, I smile in the car, she thinks it's because were spending time together, truthfully I'm laughing at the thought of my mother in the Glades at this time of night. We enter Big Belly Burger, my mother looks nervous, which is good, she needs to realize that there are parts of the city where billionaires don't exist, and that there are actually people living in The Glades, and they are happy. Carly isn't working but the manager spots me and calls out my name and asked me who the lucky lady is, I introduce the manager to my mother and the manager asks if she's single, she smiles it off but I know she's thinking of Walter.

I order my usual bacon cheeseburger, she orders a cheeseburger with extra tomato, and we both order vanilla milkshakes. We spend a small amount of time talking about the fundraiser and she tries to catch me up on who was asking about me. A few minutes later our orders come and she actually attempts to eat the damn thing with a fork and a knife.

"Mom, you can get your hands dirty every once in a while…for me please." First the first time in a while I'm actually making fun of my mother without and spite attached to it, she welcomes my tone and fully grabs the cheeseburger in her hands and takes a deep bite that only a son would love.

Then she closes her eyes and for a second I don't know if she's trying to swallow it or she's giving it oral pleasure, "That is a great burger," she replies and I simply smile, genuinely smile. Then she dips a fry in ketchup and smiles at me, "Thank you for this.  
>"Anytime," I respond, and for the first time in probably ten years, I feel at ease around her, that not every interaction around Moira Queen has to be a strategic plot, I see her for the first time in a while as a woman who is enjoying her time with her son, and I notice that I start to appreciate all those guilt trips, and all her strategy, she just wants the best for me. My plans of showing a caring side of Oliver fade away and for once I actually am caring.<p>

"You know I bet Carter Bowen doesn't know how to find the best burger joint in Starling City?" She jokes, yes, jokes, my mother Moira Queen told a joke.

"So I have one thing on him." I show a surprised look, not about Carter Bowen, because I could care less, but no, it's about my mother and I enjoying company and telling jokes with casual food, something in my years as Ollie would never have even dreamt of, I start to think that perhaps if we had more of these I wouldn't have made the mistakes I made, I wouldn't have gone on that boat with Sarah, but then for once I push my guilt away as I just want to enjoy this solitary moment with my mother.

My mother grabs my arm and smiles not caring that she has cheeseburger still in her mouth, "No you have everything on him Oliver." I smile again, and sigh, it's good to feel this way, perhaps one day I can feel this way all the time, I grab my bacon cheeseburger and dig in and the whole burger falls apart in my hands and we both laugh it away for once not caring about the personas we force ourselves to keep.


	7. The Struggle for Happiness

**Happy Thanksgiving to all of those in the USA, it was nice to take a couple of days off but I'm ready to get back to writing. I started a new piece that's rated M, it's an AU imagining Oliver as coming home from Russia instead. It was a lot of fun to work on that piece and I will be working on episode two shortly.**

**As for Momentos, I gave myself a little break, especially with no show this week. I just didn't really like any of the ideas that were coming in my head, either I already mentioned them in previous parts of this piece or I felt that it was already being mentioned by a bunch of other writers and had already been done. **

**I had one idea from the start but I really didn't want to write it, just didn't get the motivation to do it. However I came up with something that actually worked better and it covers a lot of the things from my original idea. Sometimes a little patience goes a long way.**

**As always no ownage, just love.**

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><p><strong>Happiness is a Struggle<strong>

For one time in Oliver's life, John Diggle can appreciate that Oliver has pushed someone away, even if it's him. He recollects Oliver telling him that it was indeed _his_ _crusade_, and that he has the final call on who exactly gets to join him. Diggle argued that it was all their crusade and then pulled a Felicity by claiming it was his choice not Oliver's. Though indeed Oliver was having none of it, and stood his ground, John was out, and he never really had a chance.

To get over the frustration he put all his emotions into caring for his ex-wife and their incoming baby, and when she was born, the image bore in front of him, a woman that he's falling in love with again and a child that he brought into this world with her that he would swear to protect with his life, he knows now that nothing meant more to him than this.

About a year and a half ago the circumstances were different, The Undertaking just occurred, half The Glades stood in ruins, five hundred and three people lost their lives. Carly his girlfriend at the time would stand at nothing, she was out of Starling City, she wanted to move on, move to Coast City or Central City away from the bleakness of everyday life that Starling City brings, Diggle could not leave, he had to many demons to deal with, his brother's killer was still at large, and Malcom Merlyn had partially defeated him, and he knew that Oliver would go haywire over his perceived failure and with the death of his best friend. He couldn't leave him, for one, because Oliver provided him the best chance to solve his demons, and two because he lost one brother, losing Oliver would be just as bad, even if he never would directly admit it to him. So Carly took his nephew and left without him, and he hasn't seen her since.

Perhaps that is what's called fate, if he had left he wouldn't have been contacted by A.R.G.U.S. to find his wife in Russia. He wouldn't have been asked to help the suicide squad where he would eventually come to respect Floyd Lawton his brother's killer. It's funny how things work out that way, you think you make the most irrational decision of your life and it ends up looking more rational than one could think.

For a small instance his demons left him, he was free, then just hours later it all came crashing down, Oliver's demons wouldn't allow him to be happy with Felicity and Sarah had returned only to be murdered. His freedom from the burden lasted all of twenty hours or so before the demons took claim of his soul once more. As he delves into this new but old life, she swears to himself that his baby girl would not be swallowed by these same demons. They name her Sarah, not just to honor a fallen friend, but because Sarah died never freeing herself, her name will remind him every day to make sure that he raises his daughter with the ideals of sunshine and love, to remind him to not drag her down into this inescapable existence.

As he holds his daughter Sarah, he can't help but think about his brother, not the one who died, but the one who's fighting to live. The demons he carries weigh him down more than anything that Diggle has burdened, and it took him more than a decade to find happiness, and its purest form only last hours. He just wonders how Oliver will find that happiness, and he fears more than anything that next to Sarah he's going to have a son named Oliver as well.


	8. Therapy

**So who's ready for double arrow this week! (raising hand) I really want to see how they are going to take the lighter characters from Central City and put them in the doom and gloom of Starling City. Then next week is the winter finale where we've been promised one hell of an Olicity scene, we all know the bits and pieces of it (based on all the 3x09 spoiler stories) but we all know it's going to brutal some way because that is what Arrow is, it's beautifully written brutality.**

**So for now I'm not going to write that scene in **_**Momentos**_** because anything I come up with is surely not going to do the proper justice of what is actually coming, so instead I'm going to do my second momentum story for this piece. As we've also been shown the transformation of the Black Canary will take place in episodes 10-12, which to me is going to unleash a fascinating story plot…Laurel interacting with Felicity.**

**I am one of the rare people in Arrow fandom lore, that I ship (I hate that term) Olicity, but that doesn't mean I hate Laurel either. If you really think about it Laurel is really a female version of Oliver, it's just that her journey has gone in the adverse direction of Oliver. She started out as a lawyer who helped those in need at CNRI (While Oliver was in list mode). Then she went through her pain in struggle of failure (losing the Moira Queen trial while both were dealing with Tommy's death), this year she's now hell bent on revenge and justice for her sister (While Oliver is trying to find the balance that Laurel had in season 1). In this way Laurel represents where Oliver was when he started his crusade and Felicity represents where he is going, and those two working together is going to bring an incredible dynamic to the show.**

**So this piece I'm going to do is going to be a conversation between Laurel and Felicity, if you ever read **_**Hunting Party, **_**I've done this scene before but in that case Laurel is different now than when I wrote that piece so this is like a revisit except under different plot circumstances with different character personas, so it's really not the same at all.**

**One last thought: As I mentioned before this piece will build off the previous momentum story **_**Pieces**_** (chapter 5) with the memento pieces Persona (chapter 6) and happiness (chapter 7)**

**As always I don't own these characters…that would be slavery.**

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><p><strong>Therapy<strong>

Felicity Smoak removes her glasses and places them on her desk; she places her hands on her face and uses her thumbs to massage her temples. Since Oliver made his fateful decision to self-sacrifice himself for the umpteenth time and hand himself over to the League of Assassins, a decision she and the rest of the team strongly opposed, all for selfish reasons, Diggle because he felt like it was an act of surrender, Roy because he was losing his mentor, and for her, his sacrifice didn't allow her enough time to make things right with him, since this all happened she has been dealing with massive stress headaches and lack of sleep. At least those are the symptoms she wants to acknowledge, the real symptom is guilt, the guilt that she pulled an Oliver and pushed him away. Her brain wants to argue that point, her brain wants to make the case that Oliver pushed her away first and she has the right to live her life. Her heart and her conscience however overrule her brain in this matter, she knows this because Oliver wanted to give himself to Slade six months ago, sacrifice his life for the city, and Felicity was able to back him down. This time there was no backing down, Oliver had made up his mind, he was leaving and there was nothing she could do about it.

This time however, it was Felicity kissing him, giving him something to remember of her, much as he did to her in the hallway of the hospital. Instead of him tearing up like she did, he smiled at her and then grabbed his bag and his bow, told Roy to don the Hood every once in a while to keep up an appearance and left. Worse than anything he didn't bring a phone, he took out all his tracking material, there was no way Oliver could be found, so she can't even check on him, at least the last time he left Starling to go to Lian Yu, she tracked him with his travel itinerary, unfortunately the League has their own methods of travel that cannot be tracked. Oliver Queen has disappeared off the face of the Earth, but his presence is everywhere and that presence does nothing but consume her life.

"You look like me from seven years ago." A voice from behind her rings out, since it's female she knows it's Laurel, she rotates her chair to look at her, Laurel looks back at her and tries to share a half smile as she slowly removes her Black Canary suit, the first time Felicity spotted the suit she thought it looked ridiculous with all the leather and buckles, but as Laurel explained it the suit is an extension of the leather jacket that Sarah gave her, the suit's buckles aren't really needed as it can be easily taken on or off with its massive zipper in the front. Once Laurel removes herself from her leather suit, she then takes off her blond wig, and mask leaving her in nothing but a tank top and some yoga pants, "I don't want to budge in on your feelings but I do have some experience with Ollie disappearing."

"Please don't call him Ollie, he hates that name now." Felicity remarks.

"Hm, he never mentioned that to me," Laurel responds.

"Because you're Laurel," Felicity answers.

Laurel nods and then she sighs, "When Ollie...Oliver…died…the first time, the first thing I did was blame myself, I felt that I pushed him to do what he did, that perhaps if I treated him differently, if I said some things differently, if I spent less time arguing with him and more time in his arms he wouldn't have went on that boat. Then when my guilt didn't go away I got angry at him, not for what he did, but what he did to me afterwards, how he completely destroyed me after he…left. I was angry that he did that to me, he made me miserable. Then he returned…and then I didn't know what to do, I spent one year blaming myself and the other four hating him and I could never get passed that."

Felicity inhales Laurel's words and then sits in silence, Laurel nods her head, "I should go." She mentions and turns away from Felicity.

"Laurel?" Felicity asks.

Laurel turns back around, her eyes open waiting for Felicity's response, Felicity exhales and shutters at the same time, "Thanks." Felicity remarks before turning back to her computers.

Laurel smiles and then finds a chair and parks it next to Felicity's desk, "Then when Oliver returned he wanted to reconnect with me but I never gave him the chance, I gave him bits and pieces of that chance, I strung him along, at the same time I was moving on from him, I found Tommy, for the first time I moved past Oliver, and then I didn't again, Tommy and I got into a fight and I pulled an Oliver, I went to him and a slept with him, and Tommy ran from me, and he joined his father's company, and then he died rescuing me, then again I felt guilty, and then I got angry again but this time it was at the vigilante which was surprisingly Oliver again. Then Sarah died and I did it again, I felt guilty because she's my younger sister and then I covered it up again by getting angry at Oliver…again." By then the tears are streaming from her face, and Felicity could feel nothing but shock and awe, here was Laurel Lance, strong Laurel, _Gorgeous Laurel_, a woman that she envied ever since hearing about her, here she was spilling all her feelings, everything that has been pent up inside her for the last seven years to her, Felicity Smoak.

Felicity opens up her arms and embraces Laurel who leans her head on Felicity's shoulder and wails and as she listens to her sobs it someway in some inverse satisfactory way it gives her hope that Laurel Lance chose her to unleash all her inner demons with her, it fills Felicity with an inverse sense of pride that Laurel thinks that she's strong enough to handle her issues, it motivates Felicity, that if Laurel can share her feelings with her, than she could do the same to Laurel.

"When it was time for me to be strong," Felicity starts, "When it was time for me to stand up to Oliver, I didn't, I played a game with him. Instead of standing up to him when he started to push me away, I let him do it to me, I decided that I needed to let Oliver see that he needed to fight for himself, but instead I crushed him."

Laurel lifts her head out of Felicity's shoulder and shakes her head, "No, you did the right thing, as much as we all adore Oliver, we have to remember that Oliver is still learning, and you of all people are his best teacher, you taught him to find another way. You made him defeat Slade without killing himself, I saw how you stood there strong while Slade had a blade to your throat, you taught him how to be strong. Oliver needs to learn how to fight for what he wants, that's why I know he'll come back, because eventually, whenever that may be, that lesson that you taught him, to fight for himself, will get through to him, and he will make his way back to you. Just like he made his way back to me, but unlike me you are not going to be racked up in guilt and anger and reject him. You may find someone else to love like I found Tommy, but were both going to work on keeping strong, were going to do it for Oliver so that when he comes back he won't ever want to leave us again."

Felicity inhales, "Yes, we will do that, but I also want you to stay strong for yourself, you following in your sister's footsteps isn't the end of you Laurel, it's the beginning and just like Oliver you need to fight for happiness too. We all do, and if what you say is right and Oliver does return he will return to a better place than the place he left, that's what's going to make Oliver strong, that's what's going to make all of us strong."

"So," Laurel pauses, "This was good, I think for both of us."

Felicity nods, "Yes, I think it was."

Laurel smiles, "I'm going to head home, goodnight."

Felicity returns a smile, "Goodnight." Laurel makes her way to the Foundry stairs while Felicity swivels back in her chair and looks are her screens, she inhales and then ponders for a moment, "It can wait until tomorrow." Felicity shuts off her monitors gathers her things and makes her way to the stairs making sure to water the fern before she heads out.


	9. Training

**So….Arrow vs Flash is finished, I thought that it was toned down a bit on both sides as a crossover episode usually is. I also like the fact that they didn't make a dramatic change in Oliver's suit, I didn't want a Flash suit on Oliver. My favorite scene was the torture scene, not because I'm a masochist but it showed Barry that being a hero isn't always fun and games it can get dirty, and I LOVE that Barry showed Oliver that Oliver Queen is still there and that Oliver Queen is the motivating factor that brings his team together not The Arrow, so Barry becomes they guy that turns the corner for Oliver not Felicity which I think is pretty cool.**

**Onto the piece, not much to be said, really it is a memento, and it involves one of my favorite episodes, just not the parts that everyone else likes about it, you'll see.**

**I own nothing, well I own stuff just not this…you get what I mean.**

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><p><strong>Training<strong>

"How did you survive here for six months?" Slade asked Oliver stalking him to prevent his anger and frustration from boiling up and snapping the little twit into pieces, "I know girl scouts with more fight…

"You fight girl scouts?" Oliver joked, which just pissed Slade off to slap the stick across Oliver's wrist. Slade whacked him a few more times with the bamboo until Oliver slammed the sticks down to the ground. "What is the point of this, these guys don't carry bamboo, they carry guns, so what am I supposed to do when they jam a gun in my face, fight them with a stick?"

Slade inhaled quickly, he couldn't deal with this shit any longer, he had ten fucking days before the supply plain comes and this piss ant wanted to whine instead of train, so Slade gave him what he wanted, he pulled out his pistol and gave him the handle, "Shove this in my face." Oliver did what he was asked and within seconds Slade had thrown him to the ground and retrieved his gun.

Oliver out of frustration pouted, "I give up!" He whined.

So Slade, grabbed him by the throat, "There is no giving up, you have two choices escape or die, which one will you chose." Slade cocked the gun back all but forcing Oliver to choose escape, Slade grunted, "The let me show you how not to die."

The started again, bamboo in the morning, physical training in the afternoon, hand to hand combat at dusk, sleep at night fall, repeat, they ate when they had time, but Slade knew that men train best when fatigued, when the filters in their brain which told them to stop, the morality the conscience, the rationality, they all deactivate, leaving only a trained and focused soldier. Oliver Queen was not a soldier, but he would have to do, so they trained. Eventually after a few days, the bamboo turned into knives, and the sharp burning pain of the blade motivated Oliver even more to fight, not to take some measly position at a radio control tower, but to preserve himself, to prevent the pain from further coming.

When their mission failed, and they knew that they would be on the island for another three months, Slade pushed him harder, he was now a liability, but he liked what he saw, he was impressed in the fight of the kid. He knew somewhere within that pretty exterior there was a darkness, a black hole waiting to erupt and consume him, and if he could unleash it, if he could break Oliver Queen, he just might survive another three months.

At dawn, weaponry, physical training in the afternoon, hand to hand combat at dusk, sleep at nightfall, repeat.

When it took longer than expected for the darkness to consume Oliver, but when it did, Slade wasn't satisfied, now that he finally had Oliver's attention he could now turn him into more than a survivor he could turn him into a killer, a weapon to help him fight the threats on the island with him.

At dawn, weaponry, physical training in the afternoon, hand to hand combat at dusk, sleep at night fall, repeat.

Five years later he awakes on the island, but the man he helped transform stood on the other side of the cage, Oliver Queen stood up to him and thanked him, for turning him into a hero, the darkness in him was gone, he was composed, he was strong, and all these years he realized now that the darkness he tried to pull out of Oliver had dissipated, he waited for Oliver Queen to ridicule him, to blame him for bringing the darkness out of him, for torturing him, for killing his mother, for threatening his love with a blade to the throat. Instead he simply thanked him and left, and all Slade could do was crumple to the floor and attempt to survive, so he did what he did best.

He started with using his clothes to form a makeshift training weapon and trained with it in the morning, he did pushups and sit ups in the afternoon, he worked on his martial arts at dusk, and he slept when he believed it was nightfall, and ate when only necessary.


	10. The Coward

**Hello everyone, I've been a little busy with some other projects of late. I released my Bratva Arrow piece a few days ago, it took me four days and an all-nighter to get done, plus I've finished a chapter for my novel that should be released sometime next year. So this piece got put to the back burner for a little bit.**

**Besides that I didn't have anything of quality to work with, even with the Flarrow crossover last week. However I finally managed to come up with some something after reading some other pieces. Plus I'll be putting up a memento featuring the aftermath of 3.09. So without further ado, a new memento!**

**I do not own these characters…I don't even own my house.**

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><p><strong>Coward<strong>

Oliver Queen has many secrets, some from his days before the island (getting a one-night-stand pregnant), days on the island (all his activities that he still refuses to share, those in Hong Kong (learning how to kill and torture), those in the Bratva (learning to be a criminal), and secrets he has once he came home (being the Arrow). There's one secret though that Oliver Queen has lived with his entire life, the one secret he will dare not share with anyone…ever…it's the fact that Oliver Queen is a _coward_.

Yes, Oliver Queen the playboy, the killer, the assassin, the Bratva Captain, the Arrow, is a coward, he is afraid to letting anyone into his life. Not because he wants to be a playboy all his life, or because of the life that he lives, it's because he's a afraid, he's afraid of anyone seeing the scared little coward within his strong and damaged exterior. What makes Oliver Queen so cowardly? Dependence, he's afraid of letting someone into his life because he doesn't want to become dependent on that person, and then that person leave. He's afraid of the pain of loss, so he chooses to be alone in the first place.

So over the years Oliver has developed a coping mechanism to make him feel connected to someone, to have all the benefits of a relationship without ever truly being committed to one, he calls it _fishing_. He'll reel someone in, and then cast them out only to reel them back in again, only to cast them back out again. Before the island he could work up this act on a regular basis with multiple women, because truly, the women didn't care, as long as Oliver Queen has somewhat of their attention than that was fine with them.

Then Laurel Lance came along, and her strength wouldn't stand for Oliver's schemes, she fought through them, refusing to pull back after Oliver would try to cast her away. Oliver was so frightened by Laurel because she could see the cowardice in him, she could practically touch it and because of that she didn't fear him. So Oliver went to drastic measures to try and cast her out, not because he didn't love her, but because he did. He cheated on her all the time with someone else that he was fishing, Laurel wouldn't budge. He would stand her up at dates, Laurel would pull him out of the mansion to make him go. Finally panic started setting in and he went for the most drastic thing he could think of, he slept with her younger sister. The problem was that Sara never let it known that it was happening, so it just became an affair, so Oliver decided to take her on the Queen's Gambit, and we all know what happened after that. In conclusion, there would be no Arrow or Canary if it wasn't for Oliver's cowardice.

When he returned he promised himself that he was stronger, that he could handle his insecurities, but once he saw Laurel it happened again. So on the night of his return party he pushed her away, and then a few days later he pulled her back, then finally good news! Tommy loved her and finally he could push Laurel toward Tommy, and it worked, until he needed her back. Then he slept with her, and then Tommy found out. Again we all know what happened from there. So perhaps Laurel and Tommy would be married, and Oliver would still have his best friend if he wasn't such a coward.

Felicity Smoak was just supposed to be an I.T. specialist helping him catch Deadshot. But Felicity became more, she became a breath of fresh air, Laurel was always so demanding, Felicity was so light. Her personality attracted him so much that he invited her to become a part of his team. Then he started to realize it the moment when he told her that she could always talk about her day to him, that she was getting to him, she was getting inside. So Felicity Smoak became his next victim. He would place gentle touches on her and then sleep with Laurel. Instead of coming to Felicity for guidance after half The Glades were leveled he ran away from her without telling her where he was going. He made her his EA not because he minded going down the eighteen floors, it was only an elevator ride away, but because he didn't want anyone seeing him going eighteen floors to see her, then people would know his dependence on her. He brought her to Russia because he trusted her, then slept with Isabel. He put three arrows in The Count's chest, told her there was no other choice to make, then proceeded to run to Sara when Felicity told her the news about Thea.

Even after all that, much like Laurel, Felicity remained steadfast, by his side, ready to help him, and it did nothing but scare the shit out of him. Until finally six months later Diggle convinced him to fight his fears and he asked her on a date, and she nearly got killed. All the fears returned, the fear of that dependence on someone, and for them to be gone. So he put up his walls and started casting her away, he would get tense around her, he would barely speak to her, until Felicity went to Central City to see Barry, he thought he would be glad, but he wasn't, he buried himself on finding Malcom Merlyn to distract him. He realized shortly afterwards that his cowardice was fading, Felicity patiently broke down those walls, and for once he was jealous of someone else having Felicity. Barry Allen, Ray Palmer, they were taking the woman that he finally could commit to. He had to share his feelings, he went to her office, and there it was, Felicity pulling an Oliver Queen, pushing him away this time, and oh did it hurt. He drove back and at first unleashed his rage on some bottles. Then he realized all the pain he caused, all the suffering he caused others due to his cowardice. Then he noticed that he began destroying everything, because it all wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for his cowardice. He would be happy, with someone like Felicity or Laurel, his mother would still be alive, he wouldn't be carrying all this pain, if he wasn't…such…a coward.

After he finally calmed down he surveys the damage, he'll clean it up tomorrow, like a cleansing treatment, no longer would he be afraid, he's ruined too many lives including his own, it was now time to become stronger, become better, become more than just a coward.


	11. When they Found out

**Oh Boy! That's what I call a cliffhanger! (Sorry I had to). It makes total sense to kill Oliver off (for now anyway), the producers said that this season is about Oliver finding balance (which shows he's going to come back because you can't find balance once you're dead) Oliver was never going to realize how much he was loved and supported until he could stop being The Arrow. Now with that happening, he will see that Diggle, Roy, Laurel, and even Ray will be able to protect the city without him. He will realize that Oliver is much more important to everyone than The Arrow. Plus, as we saw in the last scene he will realize what it's like to lose Felicity permanently and that will change his viewpoint on everything.**

**For now though we have angst, and lots of it, and fortunately (or unfortunately) for all of you, angst is kind of my specialty.**

**I do not own these characters…even if they are dead (for now)**

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><p><strong>When they Found out.<strong>

When Oliver's possessions were returned to the Foundry without Oliver, everyone froze. I think most of them thought that it was more than a possibility that Oliver would die on that mountain, but the reality of Oliver never returning was still too much to take.

Roy simply couldn't believe that Oliver could be defeated, after so much that he had been through after his constant training with him, learning something new every time they sparred. His apprenticeship had been accelerated, he looked at Oliver's suit, and even though Oliver told him to don it, he never could, the suit will never be touched again, it will be honored. Roy would honor him by suiting up every night, just the way Oliver did, Oliver Queen rescued him from being a street thug stealing purses in The Glades, and instead of shooing him away he turned Roy into a man, and Roy will honor everything that Oliver gave him but not giving up on his cause.

In the span of a few months Laurel Lance had lost two loved ones. She still loved Oliver, but the Ollie she fell in love with, the one that she wanted to transform had left on the Queen's Gambit, instead Oliver was darker, damaged version, and she didn't handle it well, she thought back to her therapy session with Felicity after he left, and she can't help but feel a touch of guilt for being an additional benefactor for driving him away, she had taken out all her frustrations on him, she ignored his wishes and suited up to become the Black Canary. Now he was gone, again, declared dead, again, and she should know better than to mourn him, again, but last time she didn't mourn, she was angry and hated him, now this time she feels the pain of loss from now and before, she suits up to honor her sister, but she now fights for Oliver, something she never quite did before.

John Diggle knows firsthand the consequences of war and sacrifice. Those consequences have nothing to do with the one fighting but have everything to do with the ones who support and love them. When the sacrifice is made, the person making it knows that it's for a just cause, but for those that have to bear the news the cause doesn't feel just enough. Malcom Merlyn should have been the one fighting and dying on that hill, but that's not how war works, the ones that sacrifice are the ones that care too much. For all of Oliver's faults, the one fault in fighting this war that Diggle knew would lead to Oliver's demise was that he just cared too damn much. With Oliver's death John knows that he must stay, for one to support the others, to be the father and brother needed to keep Oliver's crusade going, and to remind everyone that just because Oliver Queen made a sacrifice that doesn't mean they have to make the same one. He knows that Oliver died to prevent bloodshed not to continue it in his name. John Diggle will now make it his duty to remind everyone of that when things go bad, to remind everyone that suffering is okay, but dying because of it, the way Oliver chose to live is not.

When Felicity Smoak heard the word "dead" come out of the messenger's mouth, her world froze, she has felt hurt before, her father leaving, her mother not paying enough attention to her, Cooper's arrest, Cooper's death, seeing Oliver's carnage and Oliver's decision to battle the Demon Head. Now the inevitable came, Oliver Queen is dead. All she could think of was that this was her fault, if she had accepted that Oliver still needed more time, if she hadn't taken it too far with Palmer, perhaps his viewpoint on life would have been different. Instead she pushed him away because he had done the same, she couldn't handle the pain of rejection anymore, but now that pain seemed miniscule to the actual pain she was feeling now. In the case of her mother, who taught her to never fall for anyone because they always leave. Oliver never left her, he always came back and she realizes now that she kept leaving him, she kept wanting more, selfishly pushing for more, when it was there all the time. Oliver indeed had poured his heart out, to her, but because there wasn't a label behind that love, because he didn't claim a feeling of possession to her that she wasn't satisfied. Oliver was a damaged man, but Felicity now realized that the island didn't do that damage, it was there all the time, and Felicity was the one that was fixing him, and she broke him, smashed him to pieces, and in the end it was fitting that only pieces of Oliver remained in her lap.


	12. Processing

**Sorry for the long delay, I went on vacation last week (which ended up a disaster), so that knocked out my usual Friday through Sunday writing schedule. Also **_**Momentos**_** will only have a post once a week while we are on hiatus, with nothing new to base where I want the piece to go we would just be flying around in circles for the next few weeks.**

**So this Momentum is a follow up to Pieces, and it takes place right after Ray shows Felicity the ATOM suit. With the slight twist that this happened after episode 3.09 because if everyone remembers Pieces had Felicity pretty pissed at Ray and so I don't think they would be on talking terms as much.**

**I don't own any characters…not even ones that are dead on the side of a mountain (sorry too soon?)**

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><p><strong>Processing<strong>

At first she's pissed, really…really…pissed. Oliver Queen is dead, he sacrificed himself to save his sister and his city, and here again comes Ray Palmer wanting to take everything Oliver worked so hard for but do it his flashy way, using technologies that Queen Consolidated, not Palmer Industries developed. On top of that Ray wants her to help him, be Ray's girl Wednesday as well, she just realizes that Ray Palmer is nothing but a slime ball wanting to use the blood, sweat, tears, and deaths of so many for his personal glory.

Next she feels, guilty, because Ray tells her why he pulled away from her and why he wants to become the ATOM. His fiancée was killed during Slade's siege, her neck snapped right in front of him. It was a loss of a loved one more cruel and vicious than what Oliver did to her, fortunately Felicity never had to witness Oliver's death on the mountain. Ray's behavior was to mask his guilt that he tried to move on from his fiancée.

Then she feels, just feels for the situation that both of them are in, both had lost loved ones, while Ray and his fiancée had committed to their relationship, her and Oliver never got to that point, they tried…once…horribly, but Oliver wasn't ready yet, and she basically used Barry, and used Ray, to show Oliver the pain that she was feeling every time Oliver pushed her away. Now both of them where loveless, both of them were alone, both of them were needing, not each other, but the ones they lost and both were looking for a distraction to move them away from their pain.

After that she felt, rational, practical even, Ray for all his faults, is a billionaire, with a "B", Oliver _was _a billionaire, yes he still had some money left around in various mattresses all over the place and Felicity knows it has to total in the millions for him to afford all the equipment that keeps popping up in the Foundry, but sooner or later that money was going to dissipate, Ray Palmer could provide them with the funding to keep their operation going, but did she really want to let Ray into the only world that Oliver had left.

Then she felt…criminal, she could join Ray's crusade as well, and find a way to siphon his funds, Isabel did it to Oliver, she could do the same thing, to a smaller extent to Ray, but then she couldn't see herself doing the same acts as Isabel Rochev, God how she hated that bitch.

She phased into protectiveness, she had become something of a den mother to everyone down in the Foundry, and Felicity knows what happens to heroes at first. They fail, Oliver failed somewhat with The Undertaking, Roy failed at being a hero in General, Diggle failed at…well he didn't really fail…but he's Diggle he's awesome. Then she remembers Laurel in the hospital after trying to be a hero, Ray's going to fail, going to get hurt, he's going to need training, he's going to need protection.

She sighs, Ray would provide money, it would provide both of them comfort that they could continue their quest to save the city, and he would receive the proper training and protection in the Foundry instead of doing it all on his own. Besides her conscience couldn't take any more responsibility if Ray went and got himself killed after Felicity refused his offer.

Finally she sighs and adjusts her glasses, "Ray…I have something to show you."

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><p><strong>NO! Ray just seems to be stealing everything from Oliver, his company, his girl (for a while), now his foundry. Just like Ray got a second chance, now let's see if the second half of season three gives Oliver his second chance.<strong>

**See you next week!**


	13. Scotch

**Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday season. I'm trying to get my holiday gift to you all by getting both a Momento and Bratva Arrow piece out before New Years. We're going to start with a memento, I had this idea, and I thought about using it for the previous piece but I didn't feel right about it, but then for New Years' Eve I bought myself a present and that present kind of fit all the pieces together to make my idea an actual story.**

**As always…I do not own, unless DC and Warner Bros want to give them to me as a present…that would be nice.**

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><p><strong>Scotch<strong>

John Diggle is not much of a drinker, much like the rest of Team Arrow, it's a history thing. No, his father wasn't an alcoholic or anything like that, drinking meant something different to him and it goes back to Kandahar. There was a tradition in his unit, when one of his brothers in arms went down or went missing, the commanding officer would gather all of them together, pour each man a shot of whatever liquor they could find, the CO would make a speech and they would take the shot together, and once the burn wore off they would then go to sleep and refocus on the next day, knowing that if they didn't they would be taking a shot in his name instead.

After his service was over and he got a job as a Security Specialist, his brother who got him into the business gave him a present, four 750 milliliter bottles of various Glenmorange scotches. He shared a bottle of the Traditional with his brother that night, his brother told him the story of how the scotch was aged in the same White Oak barrels that were made and used in Kentucky and Tennessee to make bourbon and whiskey. The distilled liquor would age in the barrel for ten years before being bottled. A year later his brother died taking a sniper bullet to the chest. At the funeral he made sure that Glenmorange Traditional was available to him at a moment's notice. When Oliver began reminding him of his brother, and when he found out Oliver had stopped him, Diggle drank two glasses of traditional that night, one for him and one for his brother. Ironically after Oliver had stopped Slade, he met Deadshot Floyd Lawton in his cell at A.R.G.U.S. offered him a shot of Traditional and told him when the burn went away that it was him forgiving him.

When Tommy died and after they pulled Felicity out of the rubble Diggle pulled out the second bottle from his brother's collection this one was called _Lasanta_, it a Gaelic word that meant warmth and passion, after it spends ten years in American Oak, then aged in Sherry casks. Warmth and passion, was something that Diggle felt that Oliver needed at the time and if he couldn't literally get it, getting it in liquid form was close enough, the two shared a half a bottle together, and shortly after Oliver fled to Lian Yu. When Felicity began to feel depressed from Oliver's departure, Diggle gave her the bottle, told her what it meant, he said to her that whenever she felt that she had lost him to take a shot or have a glass of it, that way you and Oliver at least shared something together, and the burn you feel is Oliver's presence inside her. Felicity smiled and kept the bottle on her desk every day, when they found him she placed the bottle in a cabinet and locked it away for the time being.

In the aftermath of Slade's assault on Oliver and Starling City, Diggle pulled out the third bottle called _Quinta Ruban_, this scotch was sent to Portugal after ten years to be aged in port casks. The word meant ruby for its slightly pink color it emits after its additional aging. Diggle always felt a femininity towards the Scotch and it reminded him of Oliver's mother, strong and feminine. So the two drank again to the loss of Oliver's mother while they shipped Slade off to Lian Yu, Felicity also liked the color of it and felt that she was being left out and she joined in and they finished the bottle together. Felicity then in a moment of slight tipsiness for sure told Oliver again about the last discussion she ever had with her mother, the one where Moira claimed that Oliver would leave her, she told him that she was partially right, but that she was glad that he had returned to her…again.

The night that Oliver told him that he didn't want to die down in the Foundry, Diggle felt that it was a good time to open up the last bottle in his collection this one called _Nectar D'Or_, meaning Nectar of Gold, this scotch gets sent to France to be aged in Sauternes casks after it's ten years in American Oak. It forms a deep golden color after aging. The golden color reminded Diggle of Sara's blonde hair, and Felicity's golden light she brings to the team. So they drank for both because they knew for the time being that Oliver would be losing both of them. He knew about the guilt that Oliver had for bringing Sara on the Queen's Gambit and basically putting her through the hell that she went through. He also knows the internal pain he had for pushing Felicity away again, this time to what he saw as the breaking point as Oliver had realized that she would be working for Ray Palmer and spending less time with him. They didn't finish the bottle but it was stored in the same cupboard in the foundry as the _Lasanta._ The night the Diggle went down to see the damage done to the Foundry he noticed the bottle of Nectar D'or was completely empty.

When Maseo returned about two weeks after Oliver had left to battle Ra's al Ghul with Oliver's possessions in hand and declared to the group that Oliver Queen was dead and the debt to the League for Sara's death had been repaid. They all sat in silence, until Felicity stormed out of her chair when into the cupboard and took out the Lasanta. Knowing what it symbolized Felicity poured a shot for herself, gulped it down quickly, and then left the bottle sitting on her desk, right where it was the last time.


	14. Blood, Sweat, and Leather

**Two weeks to go! We can make it people. I've heard some grumbling that some people haven't approved of season 3, they say too much olicity (yes that apparently is possible), too much laurel (whatever), too much Roy, not enough Diggle (agreed), the who killed Sara storyline drawn out (somewhat agreed), and not enough Oliver kicking ass (disagree). But if you look at the history of Arrow, the first eight episodes have always been kind of iffy and then the ninth episode is badass, then 10,11,and 12 then episode 13 is really when the shit goes down. Episode 13 of season one was when Oliver finds out that his mother is planning something bad and he gets shot. Then of course episode 13 of season two was none other than **_**Heir to the Demon…**_**.enough said. **

**So as we hear complaints that Oliver will only be in flashback scenes in episodes 10,11,&12 while Laurel gets developed I say good, perhaps it will revive her character, we get that Laurel vs Felicity scene that let's face it we've all been waiting for. Then is suppose we'll start to get hints of Oliver's return around episode 13 (14 is called The Return but I doubt they would make it that obvious). Knowing the show's history if Oliver is coming back as the Arrow, than I see him coming back around episode 16 or 17, with the flashbacks remaining until then.**

**Needless to say I got a little Memento for you, I've gone a little angsty lately, hopefully their will be some happier times later in the season and we can be a little more light hearted, but I thought this piece needed to lighten up a little, so without further ado…**

**Blood, Sweat, and Leather**

**(No ownage…duh)**

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><p>There was something Felicity never really wanted to admit but since she was a geek there was always one trait that always came with that, besides being really really smart…Felicity Smoak has a dirty mind.<p>

She can't help it, it's just there, it exists, and usually she could keep her dirty thoughts to herself. Like when she was at M.I.T. and a frat guy said that the copier machine in the computer lab needed "servicing" she had to bite her lip to prevent her from saying, "I bet you need servicing too." She's not a porn person though, it's too ridiculous for her, but she does have a collection of romantic novels and she has fanfiction's mature section on her favorites if she needs it, sometimes the image of Matthew Smith as Doctor Who could get her all riled up.

Then of course Oliver Queen walked into her cubicle one day and there was no way of keeping that conversation professional, oh she babbled her way through it and she definitely noticed Oliver taking a peek at her accidentally hiked up skirt, it almost if her body did it for her automatically. When he left the room she had to rub her thighs together to get a little friction, and she eventually had to take the coldest shower ever to get the image of his…him out of her head. Then he just kept coming back to her, and it was getting ridiculous, and then he just had to go get shot, by his mother out of all people.

Felicity hates blood it makes her instantly squeamish, but when Oliver Queen bleeds if just give her an excuse to put her hands on him, in some sadistic way, when he returns she just hopes for a graze or a cut, nothing major but just enough for her to bandage him, or stitch him, and god dammit, she gonna leave her hands their a little too long.

` Then it's his sweat, holy fucking shit does Oliver sweat, but it's different, he _glistens_, it's like Edward, not the movie version, and without the pale skin, because that's just weird, no it's more like the version she remembers when she was imagining herself as Bella when he was giving her that vampire baby. The first time she was trying to work as she saw Oliver workout, shirtless on top of that, she reminded herself to pack a pair of extra panties for the drive home. Then there was the island, and the landmines, she doesn't appreciate much about the landmines ability to dismember a human, but she does appreciate them more when a shirtless sweaty Oliver lands on top of you after rescuing you. She congratulated herself on making it back home before she found the first thing in her house that vibrates. Plus the smell of his sweat, man sweat is disgusting, but Oliver's comes out as this musk, it's what Brian Fantana should have put on his neck instead of Sex Panther.

Then on top of that Oliver rocks the leather pants, another good thing from the 80's besides Madonna and leg warmers. Although David Lee Roth was not the one that should have been wearing them, first of all leather pants and especially the one Oliver wears, highlights a lot of well…let's just say UPS would be impressed. Then Oliver has curves, like sexy curves, and she wants to imagine digging her nails into them. Then the smell, it's glorious, if Oliver is showing and everyone is gone, she'll go over to the suit rack and just immerse herself in that smell for a little bit before anyone notices.

She knows that she's probably not the only girl to ever have the same thoughts about Oliver Queen, but she would challenge any female or male in some cases to come to the foundry watch him work out, then watch him put the leather on, then return all sweaty, watch him strip out of him, and then get to perhaps rub your hands on his body to fix his wounds. On second that thought, she'd rather get to keep that fringe benefit to herself.

**A little more fun on this piece, can't wait to use this in the next Momentum piece.**


	15. Processing Part 2

**Oh how much I missed Arrow! Tonight's episode was BY FAR the best episode of the season. 3x09 had its moments (sword fight anyone) but as I said in the last piece you can't judge Arrow by it's first 8-9 episodes because it's all exposition to the winter and spring runs. So here were my quick assessments so far.**

**3x01- Made it look like everything went to shit at once, Sara's death was quite a shocker…B**

**3X02- Highly emotional to the point it was hard to watch…B-**

**3x03- It was a fun episode…B**

**3x04- Rah's ah Ghul sighting! Oliver and Malcom…B+**

**3x05- Felicity Episode pretty cool (and you know how I feel about her..B+**

**3x06- Roy episode…like Roy but wasn't a big fan, bit unrealistic that Roy killed Sara…C**

**3x07- Liked Cupid…but it got really mashed in with a TON of Olicity and it wasn't the right set of jealous Oliver…I couldn't see Oliver all of a sudden getting sappy about Felicity on a "date" he wouldn't get distracted about it he would get pissed the hell off, and essentially confessing his feelings through cupid to Felicity and then Felicity running off to Palmer, really, Felicity wouldn't just do that, she'd get pissed off and confront him about it, and THEN run off the Palmer, get it right Arrow! Then the whole slide the test tubes off the floor gimmick…come on…weakest episode of the season…C**

**Flarrow- Needed to make it lighter because Flash is lighter…so it was fun, although it was awkward that the "married couple" thing was taking place. I know they did that for the two percent of people that watch Flash and not Arrow, so they could prove why Felicity goes back to Oliver and doesn't stay with Barry…that's my guess. Liked the idea of Barry witnessing torture, didn't understand his salmon ladder thing, he's fast, not super strong….difference. However it delivered the most important scene of Arrow's season, when Barry calls him out on one of Oliver's guilt trips, Barry told him that they follow OLIVER, and not the Arrow. Then he talks about the light he needs, then Felicity pops in and at that moment Oliver goes, "Oh, so that's what Sara was talking about."…..B+**

**3x09- "I Love you"…Sword fight…Dead Oliver Queen…knowing that it reveals to soon to be alive Oliver Queen…and the joyous anticipation of the reunion…B+**

**3x10- LOVED it, showing the team having faults, showing the bad guys winning, showing Felicity deep down knowing who she loves, saying that she couldn't figure out what Oliver was, but without a second's notice calling Palmer a "friend", the Hong Kong storyline finally doing some good, getting the chance of all the characters to be characters, and most of all showing season one Laurel again, not psycho crazy bitch Laurel which is just weird…A-**

**SOOO…so much to write about now (I feel like Cisco) so for the first time were going to have a sequel, the momentum piece picks up at the end of Processing, where Felicity is showing Palmer something…**

**I do not own…I just want to own**

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><p><strong>Processing Part 2<strong>

Both Felicity and Ray get into Felicity's Mini-Cooper. She starts as she normally does, driving out of the garage and starts heading down the usual commute to the Foundry, but once again, her thinking process takes over.

_Do I really want to do this? This is me taking Ray Palmer to the Foundry_, and as she is about to make the turn that would take them to the Glades, she hits the breaks, she remembers one thing, the last time she told someone about Oliver, Barry Allen, _it's not your secret to tell._ The Arrow, the Foundry, was Oliver Queen's last refuge from his emotional pain, it's Oliver's Foundry, not hers, and it's not her place to be showing people, just because he's a billionaire and he could help fund their operations, that would essentially make him the new unofficial leader, finally allowing Ray to steal everything from him.

Instead, she cuts into traffic and heads to her right.

"What was that?" Ray shoots out.

"I changed my mind, I have another place to show you." After a few minutes, she takes them to Starling City's memorial grounds. There she leads him to the resting place of Sara Lance, "This is Sara Lance," Felicity starts, "She was my friend, according to Oliver, she died three times, once on the Queen's Gambit, once on the Island, and then she died in the City, three arrows through the chest."

"Arrows? The Arrow killed her?" Ray implies.

Felicity shakes her head, "No, but as the Arrow brought the body to Oliver, he was informed by him that it was from someone close to her, someone she knew, someone she dare say trusted, who wasn't an enemy. Sara died trying to find someone and bring them to justice, that is what the Arrow told me, and she died not from the person that she was searching for but from a friend. If you want to put your suit on, then you have to accept the fact that you will not live long. It's a death sentence, it's living hell on Earth, dealing with the idea that each day could be and the odds say that the will be the last day of your life. No technology you develop, no suit that protects yourself is going to help you live, one day you will be brought off guard and that is the day that you will die, and when you die everything that you worked to protect will falter and be unprotected you think your life is over, and you want to join your fiancé, then by all means suit up, but if you really want to make a difference in this city, do it being Ray Palmer philanthropists, save the city with your brains, your charm, motivate the city to be better. Don't do it by trying to be a martyr." Felicity walks away from Ray wiping the tears from her eyes, and part of her, all of her in fact wishes that she had had this conversation earlier, and with someone else.


	16. The Mask

**So I'm coming to you live from my man cave, and I'm a little perturbed, I have an issue I need to get off my chest..**

**The Olicity Fandom is absolutely UNBEARABLE.**

**I love Felicity, who doesn't? Oliver is awesome, we all know this, but for the love of God, the whining is getting ridiculous, I used to check in on twitter for spoilers and such but I can't anymore because it just makes watching the show unenjoyable because the only thing that will satisfy the Fandom is if they were fulfilling all the fantasies that are written in the mature section of Fanfiction, and anyone that gets in the way of this is an enemy and is not good for the show. **

**Laurel was awful in last season, but that was her crucible, this year she's been awesome, I've liked her in almost every scene she's been in, but according to the Olicity Fandom she basically needs to die. Ray Palmer is another one, I'm not the hugest fan of Ray but he starting to provide and element to the show that needed to be there, he's going to show Oliver what it's like to lose Felicity. Just as Felicity knows now what it's like to lose him. At the beginning of the season we knew there would be a love triangle between the two, they've been saying it for months, almost a year now but oh my God if Ray and Felicity smile at each other it's the end of the fucking world. **

**Take this week's episode, the twitter fandom was bitching the whole week because Laurel becomes the Canary (no shit we all knew this) and Felicity and Ray share some nice moments together (again no shit we all knew this was going to happen). Then everybody wanted to see the dream because it was an Olicity dream, which of course (spoiler) end with Oliver getting a sword through his gut.**

**The theme of this whole season is balance, we all knew that coming in, as we've all seen in the two and a half seasons of Arrow, Oliver learns from trial and error and experience, that is how he learned to fight, that is how he learned to become a hero, and that is how he is going to learn to balance his life, by seeing what it's like to lose Felicity to Ray. That means at some point Felicity is going to pick Ray over Oliver, and the Fandom is going to die, because they can't think straight and see the whole picture. At this point when Felicity goes with Ray for their temporary escapade, please writers, just please have Oliver end up with Laurel for their temporary escapade so the Olicity Fandom's heads will explode. **

**Then, the best part will be when they finally do get together the whole Fandom will go, "Oh my God I loved it!" Knowing that they hated every second of it before…**

**Anyways I'm giving up arrow on twitter, because it makes the shows less fun to watch, and the reason I started watching it was because it was fun to watch, I want my fun back.**

**Okay enough of my rant, onto this memento, I've been saving this one until I saw how Laurel would be unveiled. **

**As always I do not own, nor do I want to because I would bitch slap every whiner out there.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Mask<strong>

To Oliver the hood he puts on means more than just a cloak for his face, it's to honor the memory of the dead that lead him to where he is, his father's sacrifice, Shado's love and devotion, Sarah's spirit, his oath to Tommy, every time he pulls the hood up he feels the essence of them, guiding him through the night. His mask, although a gift from Barry Allen, represents his team, Felicity is his eyes and ears, Diggle is his muscle, Roy his liege, when he dons the mask he knows that he has a responsibility to them to be the man he needs to be to protect his city.

When Sara put on her mask, it was out of love and necessity, it was a necessity to kill for the League to maintain life, and getting the mask meant she could share her love of Nyssa. Eventually the mask allowed her to come back to Starling to rekindle her love with Oliver even if it didn't work out, but mostly it allowed her to seek the forgiveness and love she needed from her family and sister.

The first time Roy wore the mask he had the Mirakuru in him, he didn't feel the significance of it, he just felt the anger and rage that this _thing _happened to him, that he had to live with this anger inside him that he couldn't control, eventually he lost control. When Oliver gave him the mask back the night that Oliver took back the city from Slade, for the first time in his life he felt a purpose he just wasn't some punk kid form the Glades, he was a hero. Then Thea left, called him a liar, and now the mask stands for truth, for when he puts the mask on it represents the true potential in him, and the true potential of his life.

When Laurel put the mask on, Sara's mask for the very first time, she felt the strength of her sister within her, for the first time they were two souls fulfilling one body. She may not have the skills yet of her sister, but her sister will guide her and help her find her way. By becoming the Canary not only does the Canary live on but so does Sara, she will wake up every day, and no once again that she is Dinah Laurel Lance the one who is always trying to save the world, because if she can't who else will?


End file.
